In response to drug-resistant “superbugs” that send millions of people to hospitals around the world, scientists are building tiny, “molecular drill bits” that kill bacteria by bursting through their protective cell walls. They presented some of the latest developments on these drill bits, bette...
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Around 1 in 5 of the population were infected in both recent outbreaks of seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, but just 23% of these infections caused symptoms, and only 17% of people were ill enough to consult their doctor. These findings come from a major new community-based stud...
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Amidst the myriad of political mechanisms, resistance is the most known. From grassroots picketing to national boycotts to a mass of millions congregating in a country's capital, the practice of protest is as old as civilization. Venturing into the resistance world brings an entirely unique expe...
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I entered the bacterial chromosome field in 2004 as a fresh Ph.D. trained in theoretical physics. Ten years is not long enough for one to gain the depth and breadth of a scientific discipline of long history, certainly not for an early career scientist to write an essay of the status of A Mathem...
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Once again, you've dropped your snack. You bend down, snatch it up, and gently blow off any dust—and, you hope, deadly germs. You're about to put it in your mouth because, after all, you've got the "five-second rule" on your side: Food that's been dropped is safe to consume if it's been on the f...
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Human mouths contain a balanced mix of microbes which, when disrupted, can lead to oral diseases. A study published on March 13th in PLOS Pathogens compares the bacteria and fungi present in the mouths of healthy individuals with those from patients infected with HIV, and illustrates why oral ca...
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Although long recognized as an essential defense against the lung-invading fungus Asperfillus fumigatus, Neutrophils actually require a little help from fellow immune cells, according to a study by Amariliz Rivera, her colleagues at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and scientists at the Fred Hu...
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What effect does the varroa mite, and the viruses it transmits, have on bee colonies? To find out, scientists have developed a new computer model to that simulates a honey bee colony over the course of several years.
Shown in the video on this page, the BEEHAVE model was c0-funded by BBSRC and...
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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise, making it more and more difficult to treat infections. But research suggests that the best defense against harmful bugs could be a healthy population of “good” gut bacteria. The human relationship with microbial life is complicated. At almost any su...
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Imagine going to the doctor with an infection and being sent home with a course of drugs. Unknown to your doctor you actually have two infections. If you take the drugs will the other infection go away by itself? What if you take the drugs and the other infection gets worse? This quandary faces ...
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Extramural basic research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, funded by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory – Army Research Office (ARL-ARO), has led to discoveries of the biochemical mechanisms for viral growth and of an unprecedented method that may inhibit viral replication. These fundamenta...
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Some commonly used drugs that combat aches and pains, fever, and inflammation are also thought to have the ability to kill bacteria. New research reveals that these drugs, better known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, act on bacteria in a way that is fundamentally different from current ...
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The nucleoside adenosine—a tiny chemical structure made up of a simple base linked to a sugar—is critical for the regulation of bodily functions ranging from blood flow to tissue repair to sleep. Now, researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School show that adenosine is essential in promoti...
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The human relationship with microbial life is complicated. At almost any supermarket, you can pick up both antibacterial soap and probiotic yogurt during the same shopping trip. Although there are types of bacteria that can make us sick, Caltech professor of biology and biological engineering Sa...
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Early childhood caries, a highly aggressive and painful form of tooth decay that frequently occurs in preschool children, especially from backgrounds of poverty, may result from a nefarious partnership between a bacterium and a fungus, according to a paper published ahead of print in the journal...
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Thank you for the great podcast! You've explained our story very well and it was funny to listen to it. I didn't know that "Speak friend and enter" is from lord of the rings! I just wanted to explain the name CYCLOPS because this was a question mark in t...
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